- Kenzaburo Hara (legislator)
Kenzaburo Hara (Japanese: 原健三郎, "Hara Kenzaburō",
February 6 ,1907 -November 7 ,2004 ) FormerHouse of Representatives of Japan SpeakerKenzaburo Hara , who had served as alegislator for 54 years until he retired in 2000, died of heart failure inTokyo Saturday, his family said. He was 97. The schedule for funeral services for the politician, popularly known as "Haraken," has not yet been fixed. Hara was first elected to theDiet inJapan 's first post-warLower House election held in 1946 with the backing of the now defunct Japan Progressive Party. He later joined the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He had served 20 terms, totaling 54 years, as a Lower House member until he retired from politics at the age of 93 in June 2000 shortly before a general election. Hara is the second longest serving legislator in the post-war period next only to formerPrime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone . After servinglabor minister and director general of the National Land Agency and the Hokkaido Development Agency, he served as Lower House speaker from July 1986 to June 1989. Hara is known for his repeated gaffes. He resigned as labor minister after he said, "Those who'll go to nursing care homes for the aged (after they grow old) are the worst," in a speech he delivered in a Coming-of-the-Age Day ceremony inSumoto ,Awaji Island , in January 1972. He had publicly pledged to voters in his home constituency to make sure that the Akashi Strait Bridge betweenKobe andAwaji Island be built. The bridge was opened to traffic in April 1998. Hara was born in Hokudan on theHyogo Prefecture island of Awaji in 1907. After graduating from the political and economic department ofWaseda University and the graduate course of theUniversity of Oregon , he joinedKodansha Ltd., a major publishing house. He served as managing editor of the "Gendai " magazine before becoming a legislator. He is also known as either the original author or scenario writer of five of the nine movies in the popular "Wataridori" ("Migratory Bird") series produced byNikkatsu Corp.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.